Archive November 2014

It’s the end of November and I have just one month left in 2014 to Get Stuff Done.

I ended up taking a staycation last week and got three sewing projects knocked out and done, two of which were just finishing them for commission work, the third was my Arwen. Last night I sculpted and baked the belt buckle, so the things left are fixing the collar, maybe removing the zipper and figuring out if I’m going to baseball stitch the seams or not. The leather seams have a lot of bulk and it’s hard to keep the stitches nice and tight since they’re decorative and not functional. I also have to decide if I want to take in the bodice or not. I think I’ll pick up gloves at some point rather than making them, I don’t really have time to hand stitch a pair of gloves.

Things I Have to do this year:

1) Finish Brandon’s stupid uniform I volunteered to remake because I wasn’t 100% happy with the first one.

2) Eventually make Danielle’s Mara Jade jumpsuit.

3) Finish Arwen this year before the last Hobbit movie. If I don’t, it will never be completely finished.

I started with seven goatskin hides. They’re the right color but I mistakenly thought they were suede, which is what I really needed. In the end though, I really like the goatskin finish, even though they’re white on the insides of the skins. The ebay price was very good too – I couldn’t find ‘dove grey’ suede leather, and when I could, it was outrageously priced or far too thick. So this ended up being a really good compromise between settling for microsuede fabric and going for using all leather. I used 4 full skins for the skirts, which overlap very nicely and are full. 1 skin went to the sleeve bottoms, which are huge, and the other skins were enough for the bodice and upper arms. I had to re-cut one upper sleeve because the embroidery didn’t work out the way I wanted. It’s still hard to tell exactly how the design was done on the sleeves, but I’m happy with the machine embroidery, and it didn’t give me an issue with the leather. The bodice is unlined, but I’m considering either lining it or finding another way to reinforce the leather so it won’t stretch over time. I think I already have to take it in a bit.

Yesterday I re-hemmed the goldish sleeve material and fray-checked it. I glued down the inside of the sleeve material and trimmed it up – which is blue microsuede cut from a thrift store shirt. I trimmed down my ears yesterday too, so they should sit better next time. I still don’t have my 3D printed belt buckle, so it looks like I’ll just be making it out of worbla or wire reinforced sculpey. The last bit is baseball stitching the seams, but I don’t like the way I’ve started them. The good news is, this leather has been surprisingly forgiving of oopsie needle punches. I’m not entirely sure why the bodice pulls so much on the side near the arm scythe, so I’ll have to see if that’s fixable.

I think I’m planning on removing the front zipper entirely and replacing it with hand sewn in hooks and eyes. I don’t like that the zipper is somewhat visible, and that there’s a line of top stitching that is visible at the front.

The collar is still kind of crazy and needs adjustment. I should have done a pattern test on the collar, but alas, I did not.

I will probably not be offering this as a possible commission. The leather is too hard to find.

We just bought a house, and it’s going to have a two-car garage, potential backyard space for a workshop shed and my sewing area will be doubled. We’ll finally have a room we can put all his grandparent’s antiques in and not leave them somewhere and hope they don’t get scratched. The house will be built to the design we want, and will be ready in a few months. Which means we have to move again.

Hubby’s working on a large vacuum former, which right now is taking up a lot of space in our rental place, but soon things will be changing. We’re one big step closer to renting out our original home after this weekend. In the mean time, we’re plotting up next DragonCon’s costume line up. I think the bug finally bit my husband and now he’s eager to put his workshop skills and tools to use on some fun projects.

This year, we went as our first ‘paired’ costume set, Rocket(te) and Groot. By DragonCon next year, we’ll likely again be Upgraded (fursuit)Rocket and (latex)Groot, some D&D characters from the cartoon back in the day, and a RIFTS duo. His costume, I think is secret for now, so I’ll just say I’m starting plans for making myself a Lay-line Walker and leaving it at that. My purple padme gown will make four costumes, and hopefully by then I’ll be in shape to wear Cursed Midna again, making that more or less my costume limit, allowing for one surprise outfit of some kind, maybe. I’m finding myself just not wanting to change all that often anymore. I’m having more fun wearing a well-made costume ‘all day’ rather than switching out to something I haven’t spent as much time on.

Poking around for Rocket Racoon reference images, I think this is my favorite thing that showed up. (artist and original comic book unknown)